Ruth Randall Edström

Ruth Miriam Edström (née Randall; June 24, 1867 - October 5, 1944) was an American peace activist and fighter for women's rights. She worked with the pre-work for the third peace conference in The Hague (after the first conferences in 1899 and 1907). She participated in the international women's congress in 1915. Ruth was the wife of the head of Asea, J. Sigfrid Edström.

Ruth Randall was the eldest of seven siblings in Wilmington, Illinois, the daughter of Oscar Theodore Randall and Jane Mariah (née Lewis) Randall. The family moved to Chicago in 1870 and settled in a suburb a few miles from the city center.

The year after their move the great Chicago fire happened with 250 people dead and 95.000 people homeless, however the Randall's house survived the fires but their shop did not make it and was burnt to the ground. The Randall family belong to the Reformed Church. One day when Ruth was sixteen years old her father brought her and her oldest siblings to a new chapel were Jenkin Lloyd Jones preached. The priest talked about Jesus and his message of love, justice and peace. Jones had like Oscar participated in the American Civil War and experienced the horrors of war.

The Randalls started to attend service at the Unity Chapel that belonged to All Souls Unitarian Church. They participated as well in Jones religious and philosophical education. The students were educated in the Unitarian belief system and became friends with the author Ralph Waldo Emerson and Robert Browning and many others. The year of studies ended with a historical party with dramas of Charles Dickens and Charles Kingsley. The latter wrote the book Hypatia, the female philosopher and mathematician. Ruth suggested the play about Hypatia and got to select the actors and direct the play.

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